Born in Germany in 1882, Emmy Noether faced countless obstacles. Not allowed to enroll in university because she was a woman, she audited mathematics classes and finally received her PhD in 1907.
She taught without pay or title until 1919, when Albert Einstein and others intervened on her behalf. Forced out of academia by the Nazis in 1933, she fled to the United States and taught at Princeton until her death two years later.
Noether did foundational work in abstract algebra, creating a breakthrough theorem that connects conservation laws with symmetries in nature. A genius who would not sit on the sidelines, her theorem continues to underpin much of modern physics.
Peter Olver and Ruth Gregory explore the mathematical legacy of Emmy Noether during this public lecture presented during "Convergence" in 2015.
FURTHER EXPLORATION:
- "The Poetry of Logical Ideas": The story of Emmy Noether, published in Inside the Perimeter Fall/Winter 2015/2016.
- Emmy Noether Initiatives at Perimeter Institute
- Meet some of the scientists these initiatives support
- Meet the Emmy Noether Council
To learn more about how you can support Perimeter's Emmy Noether Initiatives,
click here.
